What do I feed the mealworms?

1. What can I feed my mealworms? Is there anything I should not put into the device?

• The larvae and the beetles are omnivorous meaning that they can eat a large spectrum of food, but not all food is created equal. Their comfort food is a basis of dry food completed with fruits and vegetables.
• Typical kitchen scraps that we would feed our mealworms are for example carrots, apples, cooked potatoes, tomatoes, different fruits, roots, salads. They also love grain such as oats, bran or bread. Basically, you can feed them anything. Just make sure that you don’t put in: moldy or rotten foods, soups or very greasy, oily or liquid substances, dishes that are very spicy or acidic. Also do not feed too much cellulose heavy foods (salads, grass). In general, just make sure that you feed a good proportion of moist and dry foods. We do not recommend feeding meat scraps, mealworms should be considered vegetarian! Please also take care you don´t feed them things with pesticides on it. You have the power to control how healthy your food is!

2. How much feed do they need?

• This depends very much on the type of feed that you add as well as at which life stage your mealworms are. Rule of thumb is about half a small apple and about a hand full of oats per tray per day for about 200g of mealworms of medium size (about 1-1.5cm). You will soon find out how fast your mealworms eat. Just check in the first weeks of having them, as soon as the food is gone, you can feed again. Never let any food get moldy in there!

3. Does the mealworm need an external source of water?

• Mealworms and the beetles don’t need an external source of water. They can absorb the water contained in the fruits and vegetables.

4. If I feed them XYZ, will they taste like XYZ?

• Insects are very simple organisms and the type of feed you add does influence their taste. Be creative! But make sure your mealworms are still healthy when experimenting with different feeds!